Whitepaper: Engaging with Local Decision Makers in a Changing NHS Landscape
The structures governing market access in England are changing significantly. The consolidation of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) from 42 to 26, the reduction of NHS England’s central functions and the shift towards Neighbourhood Health are reshaping how local services are organised and how decisions about access to medicines are made.
“80% of pharmaceutical industry engagement is poor and fails to demonstrate meaningful value.”
Get your copy of the whitepaper
Against this backdrop, Verpora hosted a private roundtable in June 2026, bringing together three NHS payers and pharmaceutical industry leaders responsible for Market Access, Key Account Management (KAM), training and professional development.
The discussion revealed a significant disconnect between current industry engagement and what NHS decision-makers need. NHS participants estimated that more than 80% of pharmaceutical industry engagement is poor and fails to demonstrate meaningful value.
Drawing on these findings the whitepaper explores:
The changing NHS landscape: How structural reforms and increasingly localised decision-making are affecting medicines access and uptake.
The engagement gap: Why NHS payers believe much of today’s pharmaceutical industry engagement fails to demonstrate meaningful value.
Skills and capabilities: Why traditional measures of engagement activity need to give way to a greater focus on the quality of interactions and the capabilities of pharma teams.
The path to better engagement: Practical recommendations for understanding local priorities, addressing NHS service pressures and developing more collaborative relationships.
Explore the Findings with NHS Decision-Makers
in our forthcoming webinar
The findings of our June roundtable form the basis of both this whitepaper and a webinar where we’ll explore the issues in greater depth with two NHS decision-makers.
Verpora’s Omar Ali and Paul Dermody will be joined by NHS decision-makers Yousaf Ahmed and David Thorne to examine where current industry engagement falls short, what the NHS needs from pharma and how companies can adapt their approach to deliver greater value.
21 October 2026 | 14:00 BST
